The bedrock of customer service at your car dealership

The bedrock of customer service at your car dealership

Customer service may have changed considerably since the birth of the automobile and the rise of car retailers but one thing has always remained essential to ensuring you have happy customers. Your staff. Your sales team is the face of your company, providing the great experience expected by customers when they walk into your showroom.

Whether good or bad, customer service sticks in the mind of all consumers, from a bad waiter at a restaurant to a friendly sales rep at the dealership. Any time a customer interacts with your business it will have an impact on their overall experience, from using your website, to calling to book a service, to visiting the forecourt, to renewing a financial aftercare product.

Every part of a car buyers’ journey through your business should uphold the same high standards of customer service. And you should always be looking for ways to improve, through customer feedback, audits and feedback from your own staff.

Our top five tips for providing great customer service

Look for the right skills in your customer service representatives, including: empathy, patience, consistency, adaptability, clear communication, strong work ethic, good knowledge of the products they’re selling and a thick skin. You can always run a customer service feedback survey to find out how your team measures up.

Scrutinise every customer touchpoint within your business, spanning everything from their initial search online through to returning for their annual service. Ensure you have a consistent approach to customer service from your forecourt to your garage, telephone calls to social media interactions.

Put a robust customer service strategy in place to ensure all new starters and experienced staff work to the same standards. Everyone at your business must know what is expected of them and how they should be interacting with and catering to customers.

Incentivise your staff to keep them engaged. Staff incentives are a good way to motivate staff as well as ensure they’re providing first-rate customer service. There are strict FCA guidelines on how sales incentives can be used, so ensure you’re compliant. Download our eBook FCA Regulations – How will they affect you? for further details.

Give customers a way to provide feedback, firstly, to motivate your staff by sharing positive reviews and, secondly, so you can investigate any negative responses and ensure any issues are addressed.